OK. Here it is. Starpoke Observatory, a.k.a. Headbanger Lookout! I look this picture several months ago but somehow forgot to post it here, It may look seedy and run down but that is because it has had a long, and “interesting” history. I think it was first built, in the l980"s sometime by Chuck Burton and it has been taken apart and re-assembled several times since. It is semi-modular with each section coded so it didn’t have to be reduced to a pile of boards. Chuck used it to house a 16" Newtonian on a big Schaefer mount which he used for long exposure film astrophotography. He worked for the National Park Service and when he was transferred from Big Hole Battlefield to the Grand Canyon he didn’t want to move it that far so he gave it to me. The structure is a plywood 10 sided polygon with a 12 foot diameter dome . Each rib is made from two 3/4 inch 3" wide arcs of plywood laminated together and the skin is 1/4" tempered Masonite. The Rings are double thickness 3/4" plywood with a 2" race which holds the golf ball bearings. The skirt at the bottom of the dome may discourage some flying critters but both the mud and the paper wasps keep coming right in.
I added about 2' to the sidewalls when I reassembled it since I wanted to use it for my 6" refractor. . I used new taller 4" posts on concrete pads with a cast-in post holders and spent days measuring and finagling to get the dimensions right. Since each section was labeled I was able to use the existing sections as a template to match the lower sections and it went smoothly until the dome frame needed to be lifted into place. Even with 3 of us the grunts and groans may have carried for miles.! I have painted it twice in the last 15 years and already it needs a new coat Sigh.
Since my back surgery I haven’t been able to use it because the lower shutter door is designed to slide to the ground and it is too heavy for me to lift. However, I am in the process of installing a winch to raise the door. It doesn’t work well yet, but I will post about the winch that wouldn’t when I get it figured out.
Clear skies.
Glenn